


Helvegen

by NaoTatsuya



Series: Persona 5 One-shots [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Ren's thoughts on a certain situation, persona 5 royal spoilers, post third semester, slight AU not much of a divergence though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24297289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaoTatsuya/pseuds/NaoTatsuya
Summary: What was death? What did death entail?What became of Goro after everything?These were all questions that Ren had after returning to Leblanc after the events of the third semester, after that false reality.These were questions he may or may not have an answer to.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira
Series: Persona 5 One-shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738606
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	Helvegen

**Author's Note:**

> The title means “the way to hell” which refers to the path to Helheim, the realm ruled by Hela and referred to as the Norse after-life.
> 
> This is based around the Wardruna song "Helvegen."
> 
> And in case you haven't noticed, there is Norse mythology implemented in here so that in part makes it a bit of an AU.

Death was a part of life. A part of a cycle. Yet, what was death? Simply put, death was the end. But the end to what?

A life. An era. A concept. An emotion or feeling. 

Death could occur to many things both living and nonliving.

At least, that is what Ren had discovered.

Sure he had experienced death before. Death of a loved one. The loss of life.

Yet, it never hit as hard as it did now. 

_ Goro.  _

Was he really dead? Was he alive? 

Ren had no idea. 

Maruki made it seem as if Goro had died that day in the boiler room. He held Goro hostage before Ren and had the gall to claim he wasn’t.

Maruki could eat shit.

Maruki claimed to want to create a reality where everyone would be happy. Well, whatever he claimed would make them “happy.” Their dreams would come true. Yet, to Ren, it was all a lie wrapped as a gift. Something special for everyone that even his so-called friends fell for the trap.

_ No. No more. _

He treasured the true reality even with all the hardships it threw at him. At least there, he could see the truth. He could discover the truth for what it was. It was where he saw Goro, the  _ real  _ Goro and not the princely facade he displayed to the others and to the world. 

In Maruki’s world, they were just marionettes on a string. Puppets. In the true reality, they were free. Free to live. Free to search for their justice. Most of all, they were free to express themselves to each other. 

To proclaim their worries, their strife, their justice, and their true selves. 

To love.

Yet, that time had passed. 

That era was now dead.

Only, there was no death march. No funeral bells. No mourning. 

Just bitter silence from Ren because no one else cared.

No one cared that Goro was gone and presumed dead.

Those that claimed to  _ know _ Ren so well couldn’t see how he was affected by the circumstances with Goro. 

Oh, they claimed to care about Goro after the boiler room, but when all was said and done, such empathy vanished like dust in the wind. Like ashes from a fire.

_ Yet, who would stay to usher this death of an era? The death of his time in Tokyo where he found a place to belong? Where he found himself in Goro and Goro in him? _

Ren could remember after the boiler room how he researched the Norse people. Not just the vikings, but the Norse, those that inhabited Scandinavia. He found them to be a harsh, hardy people tempered by the harsher land they lived upon. Their legends and myths reflected that, of how the harsh winters forced their tribesmen to search for something better, but also how they as a people toughened to live through it all. They lived on through the strife through the hardship. 

Through the inevitable death that awaited them.

They met it head on with a smile even.

They accepted it, accepted death, for it was a part of them and a part of life.

For when they died their binds also died. They were freer than ever upon death. 

Was this how Goro felt upon Shido’s confession, his change of heart?

Freedom of those blood-soaked bonds Shido ensnared him in. Freedom to move about as he wished and not as a pawn upon a giant chess board. Freedom to maybe show his true self to the world.

Ren knew how strong willed Goro was, and he would have fit in well among the Norse if both his actions and his Persona said anything about him. Maybe Ren himself would have fit in amongst them. 

Yet, that time had passed like the tide.

The Norse were history though their traditions lived through their descendants, but Goro, his fate was unknown.

Many believed him to be dead, and Ren himself wasn’t too sure.

But, Ren did know one thing. 

_ Goro was finally free. _

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me after listening to Wardruna’s “Helvegen” on repeat and looking at the English translation of the lyrics. More specifically these lyrics:
> 
> “You will be free from the bonds that bind you.  
> You are free from the bonds that bound you.”
> 
> Death is a part of life. It is a part of the cycle of nature. What lives must die. While we have seen Goro in P5R, his era there is dead. It has ended. What may come next as life is reborn is unknown. How he may return is unknown, but have hope in the future. In what is to come, he isn’t really gone, just experiencing a new era.
> 
> I believe him to be alive, but as he was in P5R, that is now gone.


End file.
